Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Review: Soaring but Stalling

Table of Contents Table of Contents

1. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 at a Glance
2. Flight Delayed
3. An Actual Open World
4. New Horizons
5. Crash & Burn
6. The Bottom Line
7. FAQs
8. References

Show Full Guide

Table of Contents

1. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 at a Glance
2. Flight Delayed
3. An Actual Open World
Show Full Guide
4. New Horizons
5. Crash & Burn
6. The Bottom Line
7. FAQs
8. References

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 at a Glance

Flight Delayed

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 has been a rough ride, to say the least, with instances of the game under and over-estimating just what it is capable of.

Our Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 playthrough started with a near-disastrous launch. The additional downloads of support software, combined with the prolonged queue times, felt all too familiar to a real-life airport, facing an onslaught of setbacks while making little to no progress.

But soon, we would enter the eye of the storm and catch a glimpse of what this title has to offer. Intricate controls for piloting aircraft, an integration of Bing maps closely emulating real-life geographical locations and time, and a new careers mode offering more varied gameplay.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 review goes over the game’s bold and ambitious vision; and how it is frequently undermined by performance struggles: low-quality textures, missing assets, severe frame-rate drops, frequent crashes, and more.

An Actual Open World

Despite its technical shortcomings, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 excels in realism, immersion, and complexity, surpassing expectations in these areas.

The Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 game offers unparalleled freedom when it comes to exploration, as you can pretty much go wherever you want. The integration of Bing maps allows you to venture off into the world freely, offering seamless transitions across real-life global locations. It even works alongside other Microsoft technologies (like Azure AI and live weather services) to create dynamic, real-time environmental conditions. For more, you can read about how Microsoft employed AI to make the game immersive and realistic.

It is clear as day this game has focused on even the most minute of details, and this applies to the aircraft you pilot. From the moment you step into the cockpit, you are greeted with highly detailed interiors – with distinct control panels front and centre with each plane.

There’s so much depth that goes into controlling and manoeuvring aircraft from the moment you take off from a runway. It’s a constant management of power, yolk controls, and flap and rim adjustments in the pursuit of optimized flight.

It can be quite daunting at first glance, especially as each aircraft has its unique perks, from specific models to types of aircraft. Learning to control a helicopter, a jet, or a glider demands different priorities and systems to master. There’s a steep learning curve to climb, and whilst it can be very rewarding to finally tame its complicated systems, it’s far from being the most accessible game.

New Horizons

A game focusing on flight simulation doesn’t appear like it would have much to offer at first glance, but there are various game modes available that can help spice up its otherwise monotonous gameplay.

The Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 career mode is the biggest highlight of this year’s entry in the franchise, serving as an impromptu main story mode that allows players to take on missions, earn a variety of licenses, and pursue different career paths.

The mode kicks off with a character creation menu, a welcomed addition but one we found was too limited. Everything is pre-set without leaving much room for personalization, so your in-game character ends up looking somewhat generic. Flight Simulator 2024 also lets you choose your starting airport, offering an exciting opportunity to decide what your training environment will look like and what weather conditions you’ll encounter.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 missions have varying objectives randomly scattered across the world in a similar fashion to side-quests in an open-world RPG. Missions can vary from skydive aviation, flightseeing, and cargo transport. As you unlock more specializations, you’re able to pilot more planes and heliocopters and take on more adventurous tasks like firefighting, medevacs, and even hot air balloon trips.

One gripe we have with this mode is the dialogue and the game’s repetitive use of text-to-speech for most NPC characters, including your main guide, Scott Lowe. I understand it is supposed to be informational, but it’s also a video game that could afford some semblance of personality. There are even some cases of characters having missing voice lines, which can detract from the overall experience.

Crash & Burn

Beneath its stunning visuals and immersive environments lies a landscape of technical issues that occasionally derail the experience. From occasional frame-rate stutters to disfigured assets, the game sometimes struggles to stay airborne, even as it pushes the boundaries of what’s possible in flight simulation.

Given what the game is trying to accomplish and the past history of the franchise, some hiccups were to be expected. The stunning visuals are a double edged sword on the Xbox Series X, as it results in games taking several minutes in order to load – even in simple tutorial lessons.

While Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 can be visually stunning, it also results in any flaws becoming glaringly obvious. Human figures and distant objects experience a noticeable drop in frame rates, resulting in pixelated graphics and jerky animations. Some assets fail to load correctly, turning into strange, distorted shapes. This isn’t as much of an issue when you’re flying high, but it’s a troubling sign when you’re trying to get started at an airport.

In addition to graphical glitches, the game is also prone to frequent screen freezes and crashes, which is counter-intuitive to the mechanical depth this game demands. These sudden halts, whether during takeoff, mid-flight or while navigating menus, create frustrating interruptions that often pull me out of the immersive world the game strives to build.

The Bottom Line

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 soars with stunning visuals and an impressive array of aircraft, but it often stumbles in its execution.

While the world may look more immersive than ever, it also has its fair share of cracks in between, with an experience that occasionally feels grounded by technical hiccups.

Still, for flight sim enthusiasts or hobbyists with a passion for realism, the highs are high enough to make it a worthwhile journey; just be prepared for a few bumpy patches along the way.

The Microsoft Flight Simulator release date was November 19, 2024. It’s available on Xbox Series X/S and Steam for $69.99 for the Standard Edition, $99.999 for the Deluxe Edition, $129.99 for the Premium Deluxe Edition, and $199.99 for the Aviator Edition. You can also experience it without putting extra money down as it’s on Xbox Game Pass for both platforms.

FAQs